“Gift” is an artwork from Sigrid Viir's solo exhibition “Import Export” (together with Jimmy Limit) at Temnikova & Kasela Gallery, Tallinn, 2016

“Import Export” talks about import and export in a general commercial sense, alluding to the transportation of art works and artists from one continent to another, customs procedures, and the mass migration of people and files. The title of the exhibition also refers to photography, the widespread use and distribution of photographs, and digital importing and exporting.

Sigrid Viir (b. 1979) works and lives in Tallinn. Viir studied cultural theory at Estonian Humanitarian Institute, after which she acquired BA (2009) and an MA (2017) degrees in Photography at the Estonian Academy of Arts. During her studies she also completed a Media Arts exchange program at Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung Karlsruhe (Prof. Elger Esser).

Viir's practice - both solo and as a member of Visible Solutions LCC with Karel Koplimets and Taaniel Raudsepp - is situated between photography, installation and performance practices. Through their mostly performative practice, Visible Solutions explore the relationship between art and economy questioning the methods on which the art world operates as well as their own roles within that. Viir’s solo practice evolves around a more private sphere: family and domestic objects. The artist describes her interest to be focused on “behavioural habits and functioning models”, which she documents, questions and rearranges in her work. Viir's photo series, depicting people and objects in unexpected arrangements, often deal with functionality and structure of social models. Sigrid Viir is interested in the daily aspects of human existence and the related tangle of social agreements, the borderline between the totality of work and personal time of rest as well as the themes of visual language.

Viir’s recent exhibitions include "False Vacationer" KOENIG2 by_robbygreif, Vienna; "In the Now: Gender and Nation in Europe, Selections from the Sir Mark Fehrs Haukohl Photography Collection", LACMA, Los Angeles; "In front of the mirror, on a day full of enthusiasm, you put your mask on too heavily, it bites your skin", with Cloe Jancis, Temnikova & Kasela, Tallinn (2021); "False Vacationer", Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia, Tallinn (2019); "Waiting Room Improvisation", V Artishok Biennale, curated by Evelyn Raudsepp, Theatre N099, Tallinn (2016); “Kim Wilde, While Shivering at the Bus Station and Biting into a Jam Doughnut, Hums a Tune Inspired by Passing Remarks, Picks Dust Off Her Suspenders and Together with an Egg Cell Analyses a Previous Experience with the Spirit of Tartu”, with Kristiina Hansen and Johannes Säre, Tartu Art House.